


I Will Follow You Into The Dark

by yosgay



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-03
Updated: 2015-11-03
Packaged: 2018-04-29 17:05:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5135702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yosgay/pseuds/yosgay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He knows now. This is something Komaeda has to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Will Follow You Into The Dark

**Author's Note:**

> In which Hinata finds out the truth about himself and his classmates, and decides to follow Komaeda's lead. 
> 
> the title is based on the death cab for cutie song and i am so sad

He holds his breath when he pulls the curtain away, forcing his stuttering heartbeat to slow down. His eyes are still squeezed shut like he can convince himself that he's been wrong this whole time, that the trail of breadcrumbs left just for him around the islands won't lead to what he already knows is here. He can almost pretend that there's nothing out of the ordinary in this warehouse — nothing besides boxes and packages placed here for storage, along with all the stupid shit that Monokuma wanted to sell — almost. The metallic sting permeating his nostrils and making him  _gag_  betrays the truth, and he cracks an eye open to the red-painted figure faithfully laying there before him. He doesn't gasp at what he sees, doesn't even flinch — because he's not surprised, he tells himself. Not surprised. Just… _ready_. He finds himself caught halfway between painting himself in it or adding to it — just so Komaeda doesn't have to bleed alone.

Komaeda's eyes glow like the northern lights in pitch black, lighting up the room with fear and  _pleading_ , like if he opens them wide enough it'll ask the dozens of questions that the duct tape is keeping trapped inside his lips. Hinata's are empty, carefully empty. He doesn't have to explain this to Komaeda, he tells himself. Really, deep down, he's probably just as confused by what he’s doing as Komaeda is, but that doesn't change anything. 

Hinata knows what he is — what they all are, and that knowledge is the reason he let this happen even after he put the pieces together. He knows now. This is something Komaeda has to do, and Hinata won't stop him — doesn't blame him for a second. They all deserve worse.

He puts the curtain back to where it belongs, hiding them both once again. He turns around and Komaeda’s whimpering now, little broken pieces of more unaskable questions that Hinata wouldn't answer even if he could make them out. Instead, he takes a breath, willing all of the control and stability of the perfect and completely _wretched_  being he knows sleeps inside him somewhere, and kneels beside his battered body, brushing the blood-streaked, sweat-sticky hair from his forehead, while Komaeda’s muffled sobs eat him alive. Hinata cups his chin gently, and swallows his own desperation, staring blankly into dull green eyes.

His tears his gaze from Komaeda for a second to sweep around the room, and breathes deeply through another wave of nausea as the reality of all of this threatens to bury him. “ _Komaeda_ …” he whispers, afraid more than anything that he won't be able to keep his voice steady. "I'm here."

He places a shaking hand on Komaeda's chest, feels his heart beating fit to burst, and wipes his forehead again. "It's alright," he's murmuring, over and over, without even realizing it. He's not sure which of them he's saying it to when he lays down next to him, carefully avoiding the injuries that he can, and tries to take the spear from his left hand. Komaeda just grips tighter, the defiance in his eyes threatening to burn a hole in Hinata, but he continues his whispering and cooing like he's talking to a scared child. Komaeda's fingers finally loosen as his eyes squeeze shut around another waterfall. Hinata hates to see him like this, but he refuses to break composure. One of them has to be strong here, so he takes the spear into his own hand, settling by Komaeda's side, where he belongs.

_Deep breaths._

Through his mouth, because through his nose keeps flipping his stomach inside out. Through his mouth, even though he can still feel the pins-and-needles prickle of the blood-smell worming its way up his nose and settling deep behind his eyes. Through his mouth, mustering every scrap of self-control he knows he must have from what they did to him, just so that he doesn't snap and start wailing his head off.

Komaeda's quieter now with Hinata warming him, gripping the spear in one hand and a fistful of his heavy green jacket in the other. It’s almost funny thinking about how his classmates will _possibly_ figure this one out, and the only thing he can find it in himself to really hope for is that they  _don't_. 

He can hear them now, rattling the doorknob, sure to not be as careful as Hinata was when he opened the door. Komaeda's cheeks have gone dry, and Hinata hasn't stopped staring at him since he laid down. His eyebrows pinch together in a grimace when the commotion reaches his ears, but his eyes are soft when they turn back towards Hinata. He can just barely swallow the lump that’s formed in his throat at that look, that look that says everything he can’t, and it’s all Hinata can do to shut his eyes and burrow his head into Komaeda’s chest without really losing it this time.

The fire starts faster than he expected it to. As soon as the door bursts open and the dominos fall, it’s like they’re in another world. Hinata can see the glow of the once-dark room even through his eyelids, the sudden heat soaking his shirt through. The smoke burns his eyes, burns everything, and he finally lets himself tear up. Komaeda’s convulsing now, wracked with coughs and sobs that he can’t let out, and Hinata’s hand tangles itself further into soft green material, white-knuckle tight. His lungs are rejecting the dark, billowing cloud around them, but he tells himself that it doesn’t matter, that this is what he came here for.

 _Deep breaths_.

Before he has a chance to really fall over the edge, to open his mouth and _beg_ them to stop, to wait, to get Komaeda to a hospital, to please, _please_ , wake him up from this fucking nightmare already, glass shatters and everything stops. The fire, the smoke, the yelling of his classmates beyond the curtain. The silence is deafening. _This is it_. He wrenches open his eyes and slides his arm around Komaeda’s shaking frame with the overwhelming need to see his eyes open one more time. They stare at each other for what seems like hours, like _years_ , Komaeda’s terror receding as Hinata forces himself to actually _smile_.

A different kind of smoke is surrounding them now, thick and white and ominous, but Hinata’s not looking at that. He’s wrapped around Komaeda like he’s a life raft and the air is a stormy sea — like his gaze is the rope keeping him afloat. Komaeda’s eyelashes flutter a little, like he’s fighting to keep them open — Hinata offers a slight nod, as if giving permission, and Komaeda blinks slowly a few times before he closes them completely.

Hinata moves his fingers to ghost over the crook of Komaeda’s neck, feeling his pulse, keeping himself steady. He fills his lungs and feels them go numb under the weight of the poisoned air — and, funny, he thinks, it doesn’t hurt as much as he thought it would.

 _Deep breaths_.

His body feels heavier with every exhale, icy fingers tracing their way from his spine down to his toes. He flexes his hand around the tail of the spear, channelling all the strength he has left into not letting go too early. The thrumming under his fingertips is slowing along with everything else in the world, and tears finally spill over his cheeks and soak through Komaeda’s stilling chest.

He feels his grip weaken, and panic rises in his chest at the prospect of letting go. Of letting any of this go. “ _Nagito,_ ” he whispers, mouth barely able to move enough to form the words. “ _N…_ ” he starts, and his hand goes slack.

 _Deep breaths_.

**Author's Note:**

> what have i done i'm so fucking sad


End file.
